SAINT FEAST DAY 11 APRIL: ST STANISLAUS

SAINT STANISLAUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanow was born in a village in Lesser Poland (Malopolska). He was educated at the Cathedral school in Gniezno, Poland’s capital at the time. He was eventually ordained by Lambert II Sula, Bishop of Krakow.

ONE OF THE EARLIEST NATIVE POLISH BISHOPS

Following the bishop’s death in 1072, Stanislaus took his place, becoming one of the earliest native Polish bishops. During his time in office he managed to ensure the re-establishment of the metropolitan see in Gniezno which was a precondition for Duke Boleslaw’s coronation as king. After he was enthroned in 1076, Stanislaus managed to persuade King Boleslaw to establish Benedictine monasteries for the evangelisation of Poland.

King Boleslaw and Stanislaus fell into conflict when Poland experienced a prolonged war with Ruthenia. The bishop criticised the king for punishing soldiers’ faithless wives very cruelly. Although the root cause of the falling out is still debated, Bishop Stanislaus excommunicated the king and was subsequently accused of treason and sentenced to death.

HE WAS MARTYRED WHILE CELEBRATING HOLY MASS

Although Boleslaw sent his men to execute the bishop without trial, they felt too afraid and so the king killed Stanislaus himself. It is said that he killed Stanislaus while he was celebrating Mass in the Church of St Michael the Archangel, known as the Skalka, though it is also said he was actually killed in Wawel Castle.

HIS FEAST DAY

The bishop’s body was then hacked to pieces and thrown into a pool. Some sources say his death occurred on April 11, 1079 and others say May 8 of the same year. Pope Innocent IV canonised Stanislaus on September 17, 1253 and Pope Clement VIII later named his feast day for May 7, which was moved to April 11 by the Church in 1969, when it was decided this was the accurate date of his death.

HIS RELICS

Stanislaus is a patron saint of both Krakow and Poland. Every year, the Archbishop of Krakow leads a procession from Wawel to the Skalka in honour of St Stanislaus. Wawel Cathedral holds the saint’s relics and is a national shrine for Poles.

One of Stanislaus’ greatest devotees was the soon-to-be-saint John Paul II, who in 1979 devoted his first apostolic letter, Rutilans Agmen, to St Stanislaus. The letter expressed his wonder that John Paul II, a successor of Stanislaus in the see of Krakow, should, ‘by the inscrutable designs of God’, have been elected Pope within the 900th anniversary year of his predecessor’s martyrdom.

This article was published in The Catholic Herald, paper edition, issue April 4, 2014

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Stanislaus may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

WELCOME

Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ...

BL. LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR 16th century houses, painted by Auguste Mayer He was born in the bishopric of Durham, according to Raissius ; others say at Richmond, in Yorkshire. He was master of arts in one of our universities; but going abroad to Douay, in Flanders, was received into the English college there, 1576, and made priest in 1577; and the year following sent upon the mission. Where he had not been long before he again went abroad, and travelled to Rome, partly for devotion, and partly for further improvement in learning. Here he remained in the English college till 1580, when he returned into England, and was not long after apprehended: for I find by a printed diary of things transacted in the Tower of London from 1580 till 1585, that on the 5th of December, 1580, Luke Kirby, Thomas Cottam , and other priests, were brought to the Tower from other prisons; and that these two, on the 10th...

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog